flinty

Adjective

flinty (comparative flintier or more flinty, superlative flintiest or most flinty)

1. Resembling or containing flint; hard like flint.
   • It was late at night and frosty; high above them on the hills the cloppety clop, cloppety clop of a horse's hooves picking their way on the flinty stone track died away in the distance.1973, Patsy Adam Smith, The Barcoo Salute, Adelaide: Rigby, page 2
2. Siliceous (including basanite).
   • flinty rock
   • flinty slate
3. (figuratively) Showing a lack of emotion.
   • Public opinion has turned flintier in recent years on welfare spending.2012 August 22, Andy Beckett, “Britannia Unchained: the rise of the new Tory right”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 26 Apr 2022
   • While the texture of his playing was often flinty, his licks and leads were flush with feeling.2023 August 9, “Robbie Robertson, 80, Dies; Canadian Songwriter Captured American Spirit”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 31 Aug 2023
4. Having a taste characteristic of certain white wines, especially Chablis, supposed to evoke the sensation of flint striking steel.
   • Wines can be described with words like cigar box and “pencil lead,” or flinty or with hints of sandalwood — oenophiles can veer into what many might deem pretentiousness pretty quick.2023 March 24, Laura Reiley, “Could nonalcoholic wine be the toast of the town?”, in The Washington Post, archived from the original on 15 May 2023